So the bastard’s still alive…

That Avenger with the white hair and blue face was able to save him before I could kill him. I was briefed on the new Avengers team — not like I couldn’t have done it myself, they’ve been all over every news network and magazine across the world. Whenever the Avengers get a big roster shake-up, it’s like Oscar season.

I got a plan to take him out of the picture. I can slip by the others, but he’s got some sort of cosmic mumbo-jumbo or some crap like that, so I gotta improvise. Good thing I remember the scout’s motto — always be prepared.

…okay, so I was never a boy scout. But I’ve killed one.

My name’s Bullseye. Anything in my hand is a weapon, and I never miss. I’m bein’ paid a pretty nice chunk of change to kill off Abelovic Kitchstein, the first democratically-elected Prime Minister of Luminstan. I dunno who’s paying me, I dunno how they got me out of prison, and I don’t really care. Apparently, by doing this, the civil wars that have been tearing the country apart for years are gonna start back up again. Which means a lot of people are gonna die.

Boo freaking hoo. I’m sure I can dry my tears on the paycheck I’m getting for this assignment.

THE TARGET

Part II: Hide and Seek

By Logan Polk and Dino Pollard

Luminstan

Nick Fury stands in a small conference room, a Cuban cigar held between his lips. He puffs on it, allowing the smoke to fill the small enclosure. Surrounding him are six of the seven Avengers — Captain America, Iron Man, Warbird, Captain Marvel, Cannonball, and Vision. The seventh member, Namor, chose to abstain from this mission. Also standing in the room is Mikhail Goroso, the Prime Minister’s top advisor.

The Avengers came to Luminstan at the request of the United States government, to serve as bodyguards for Prime Minister Kitchstein. It was a good idea, for if not for Captain Marvel’s intervention, Kitchstein would be dead. Once word was reached, Nick Fury, on behalf of SHIELD, came to Luminstan.

“Okay, here’s the situation,” says Fury. He takes the cigar out of his mouth. “According to SHIELD’s files, Bullseye is currently held in solitary confinement at Riker’s Island back in the States. From what you guys have told me, it looks like your files say the same. I checked with Riker’s, and their files don’t contradict any of the info we’ve got. But they checked and Bullseye was indeed missing.”

He pauses, puffs on his cigar, and continues.

“So… what I want to know is how one of the world’s deadliest assassins escaped from prison, got himself into Luminstan, and attempted an assassination… all without anyone knowing?” asks Fury.

“Well, he’s gotta have some connections,” replies Cannonball. “Maybe he bribed someone to help him escape, he’s probably got the money to do that. An’ maybe he’s got somebody on the outside who can manipulate the records at Riker’s. If Riker’s records didn’t change, there’s no reason why anyone else’s would, right?”

“Sam’s got a point,” says Warbird. “For something like this, Bullseye would need someone on the inside, even if it was just a guard who could sneak him out.”

“Does it matter how this maniac escaped?” asks Goroso. “We have one of the deadliest men in the world running free in Luminstan! I don’t care how he got here, but I want him stopped!”

“Mr. Goroso, we understand your anger, but please remain calm,” says Captain America. “The Avengers won’t allow anything to happen to the Prime Minister.”

“Suggestions on how we should keep him safe?” asks Iron Man.

“Personally, I say we keep him in a high-security area with plenty of guards,” replies Fury. “People should have very limited access to him while you boys search the country. I’ve also got SHIELD recon teams seeing if they can find him.”

“Are you insane?” asks Goroso. “We cannot keep the Prime Minister hidden like some… some criminal! Some may see it as a sign of weakness, and we may see a rise from the insurgency!”

“So it has to be business as usual for the Prime Minister?” asks Captain America.

“Precisely,” replies Goroso.

“Too risky,” says Fury.

“It must be done,” says Goroso. Fury shakes his head as he puffs on his cigar.

“Fine,” he says. “But I want at least one Avenger with Kitchstein at all times.”

“My Cosmic Awareness first alerted me to Bullseye’s presence,” says Captain Marvel. “I could patrol the area, see if I pick anything up.”

“I don’t want any of us going solo,” says Captain America.

“I’ll go with ‘im,” says Cannonball. “I’m not as effective in close quarters anyway, plus I can keep pace with Marv. And besides, with Iron Man’s armor capabilities, he should probably stay close to Kitchstein.”

“I’ll stay with Iron Man, too,” says Captain America. “Warbird and Vision, I want the two of you to stay on alert and patrol the general area, ensuring the building is secure at all times.”

“Count on us, Cap,” says Warbird.

“Good,” says Captain America.

“I’ll have some more men put on guard detail with you guys,” says Fury.

“I’d appreciate that,” says Captain America. “Cannonball, Genis, get started immediately, try and find Bullseye as quickly as possible. Everyone stay in contact at all times, okay?”

The Avengers all nod in agreement. Captain America turns to Fury.

“If you don’t mind Nick, I’d like to have a word with you,” he says.

Fury raises an eyebrow in curiosity, but nods yes.

Captain Marvel streaks through the skies of Luminstan with Cannonball staying nearby, his blast field leaving a trail of kinetic energy behind him. Captain Marvel’s eyes scan furiously around, and he focuses his Cosmic Awareness to try and sense any disturbances which may be the result of Bullseye’s presence. The son of Mar-Vell comes to a stop and hovers in the air. Cannonball comes up beside him and looks at him with curiosity.

“What’s goin’ on?” he asks. “You find ‘im?”

“…not necessarily…” replies Captain Marvel. Suddenly, his head perks up as if he has heard a loud noise. Without another word, he rockets off in the opposite direction, leaving Cannonball hovering there.

“Hey, wait up!” exclaims Cannonball. Using his kinetic blast field, he propels himself in Captain Marvel’s direction. His teammate remains in his sights as he races towards him to try and catch up, flying as fast as he can. He sees Captain Marvel flying towards a hospital but before they can get any closer, it blows up.

“No!” exclaims Captain Marvel.

“What happened?” asks Cannonball.

“A bomb!” replies Captain Marvel. “The bastard planted a bomb in a hospital!”

“C’mon, we gotta do what we can t’ help,” says Cannonball.

“No… you help,” says Captain Marvel as he rises higher in the air. “My Cosmic Awareness… he’s got other bombs planted. I’ve gotta stop him.”

Warbird stands on the roof of the Prime Minister’s home, looking down over the edge. Her eyes scan across, searching for any sort of activity. SHIELD agents also surround the area, armed and ready to shoot first and ask questions later. As she continues to keep watch, the Vision rises up behind her, phasing through the ceiling. He solidifies his body and his feet touch the ground.

“The rooms inside are all clear,” he says.

“Good,” says Warbird.

“Any activity?” he asks.

“Nada,” she replies. “Quiet as a church.”

“That could be attributed to a cause for alarm,” says the Vision.

“That whole ‘it’s quiet, but too quiet’ mentality, huh?” asks Warbird. “Maybe it’s just paranoia talking, but you’re right. It is too quiet.”

“My apologies Warbird, I was simply making an observation,” replies the Vision.

“I know, it’s okay,” says Warbird. “I can’t believe it’s taking all this effort, I guess. I mean, we’re the Avengers for crying out loud. We’ve taken on the likes of Kang, Loki, the Masters of Evil, Ultron, and we’re having difficulty against the likes of Bullseye?”

“Perhaps it is due the fact that Bullseye is more of a covert threat as opposed to an overt one,” says the Vision.

“You got a point there,” says Warbird. “We’re not really the covert types, are we?”

{{ Warbird, Vision, ya’ll read me? }}

“Loud and clear, Cannonball,” says Warbird. “What’s going on?”

{{ Bullseye set a bomb at a hospital, it went off ‘fore Marv an’ I could get there. Marv says Bullseye’s got other bombs planted around the country, so he’s goin’ t’ diffuse ’em. }}

“A hospital?” asks Warbird. “Guess there’s nothing that bastard won’t sink to…”

{{ I’m doin’ my best here at the hospital tryin’ t’ help out, but there’s only so much I can do. Think one of you can be spared? }}

“I’ll be there as soon as I can,” says Warbird.

“I shall go,” says the Vision. “With my density-altering abilities, I can reach survivors Cannonball may not be able to get to.”

{{ He’s got a point, Carol. There’s a lot o’ rubble here, God only knows who’s trapped underneath it all. }}

“Right, get over there, then,” says Warbird. “I’ll hold down the fort over here.”

Without another word, Vision rises into the air and flies towards the direction of the hospital. Warbird watches him fly off, a streak of green and yellow across the sky.

“Hunh, look at that…”

Warbird turns on her heel and sees a man in a skintight black lycra costume stepping out of the shadows. His mask has a white target on the forehead of it. His white-gloved hands rest on his belt, which is also white.

“I thought I was gonna have to take the two of you on,” says Bullseye. “But now that Mr. Personality is gone, looks like you and me get to spend some quality time together, cutie.”

Captain Marvel’s Cosmic Awareness guides him towards the location of the next bomb — located in an elementary school. He touches down on the school grounds and the children on the playground rush towards him in surprise and awe. He tries to ignore them, allowing his sixth sense to point him in the proper direction. He crouches low to the ground and recoils his arm, the Nega-Bands gathering energy around his fist. He slams his fist into the ground and the children watch in shock as he breaks his way through the ground.

He finds himself in some sort of enclosure, and glances around. He feels the pull of the Cosmic Awareness and rushes forward. Sensing the final location of the bomb, he burrows his fist through a wall and his hand wraps around the bomb. He pulls it out and rockets out of the hole he made in the playground. He pulls his arm back and with all his might, he hurls the bomb into the atmosphere. He follows it up with an energy blast to eliminate the bomb.

Warbird falls down to the ground, firing energy blast after energy blast to quickly disable the throwing stars hurled by Bullseye. She flips back onto her feet in time to find Bullseye’s foot flying towards her. She easily dodges the blow and spins around. She moves in closer. Bullseye’s advantage is long-range, but in close quarters, he’s no match for her strength and her powers and he knows it.

Bullseye backflips away from Warbird to put some distance between the two of them. He hurls three small pellets at her and they all miss their mark. Warbird looks at him and gives a little grin.

“Losing your edge?” she asks.

The three miniature bombs he threw suddenly detonate, throwing her off-guard momentarily.

“Nah, just tryin’ some new tricks,” he replies. When the smoke clears, he sees Warbird laying prone on the ground. “C’mon baby, don’t tell me you’re done playing already. Those things weren’t powerful enough to take out a pretty little superhero like you.”

Warbird’s eyes snap open and she quickly fires an energy blast from the palm of her hand. It tags Bullseye’s shoulder, and he grits his teeth in pain. He reaches into his belt and his hands wrap around a few small pellets.

“You’re good, baby… But me?”

He hurls the pellets down at the ground and they explode with smoke, obscuring Warbird’s vision.

“I’m magic!”

Warbird dives forward into the smoke, firing off energy blasts, trying to tag him, flying blind. Once the smoke clears, she finds she is alone on the roof. She mentally scolds herself then raises a hand to her earpiece.

“Warbird here…”

{{ …Bullseye got past me. Stay alert, Cap. }}

“Copy that,” says Captain America. He turns to Prime Minister Kitchstein, the only other man in the room with him. “Don’t worry, sir — we’ve got the situation under control.”

“*ahem*”

Captain America brings his shield up to the ready and turns to see Bullseye leaning against the doorframe. He holds a dagger in his hand by the tip of the blade.

“Looks like you boys are doing a great job of that control, huh?” asks Bullseye with a grin. He hurls the knife and Captain America deflects it with his shield. Bullseye is upon him, moving past the shield and driving his knee into the Living Legend’s abdomen. Bullseye kicks Captain America’s legs out from under him and slams his foot down on the Avenger’s chest.

“Oh please,” says Bullseye. “I would’ve expected you to last longer than that. Must be gettin’ old, solder.”

Bullseye turns his eyes and catches sight of Kitchstein. A smile spreads over his face and he reaches down to his leg where a gun is holstered. He draws it and waves it around, tossing it from hand to hand as he steps closer and closer to the Prime Minister.

“Well well well…” says Bullseye. “Look at that, Christmas is comin’ early this year.”

“Please…” says Kitchstein.

“Oooooh, I love it when they beg,” says Bullseye. “It adds a certain… drama to the situation, wouldn’t you agree?”

“Just… just tell me one thing,” says Kitchstein. “Who sent you?”

“Y’know, that’s probably the most commonly-asked question,” replies Bullseye. “An’ the short answer is I don’t know, I don’t care. I’m gettin’ a nice fat deposit in my Cayman Islands account.”

Bullseye takes aim with the gun, but before he can fire, Kitchstein kicks the desk over for protection. The bullet strikes the desk and Bullseye grumbles.

“You little shit…” he mutters. “That was my only bullet!”

He flips the gun and holds it by the barrel as he approaches the desk.

“I was gonna make it quick, but now I’m gonna beat you to death.”

He approaches the desk, but Kitchstein isn’t there. A finger taps him on his shoulder. He slowly turns and sees Kitchstein standing before him.

“Boo,” says Kitchstein. His fist flies out and connects with Bullseye’s jaw. He follows up with an uppercut and an elbow to Bullseye’s chest. He delivers a roundhouse kick that sends Bullseye flying back and he strikes the wall with a loud THUD. Kitchstein reaches down and picks up Captain America’s discarded shield. He throws it with an accuracy gained from years of use, striking Bullseye directly in the forehead. Kitchstein slowly steps forward and nudges Captain America with his foot.

“Get up, Nick,” he says. “You played your part perfectly.

‘Captain America’ stands and pulls his mask off, revealing a man with brown hair and gray temples. He reaches down into his belt and pulls out an eyepatch, which he uses to cover his glass eye. Kitchstein reaches by his neck and pulls off the mask he wears. Beneath the duplicate of Kitchstein’s face is a man with short, blonde hair and blue eyes. He reaches his hand up to his earpiece.

“Mission accomplished, team,” he says. “Iron Man, how’s Kitchstein?”

{{ The Prime Minister is doing just fine, Cap. }}

“Good,” says Captain America. “Captain Marvel, the bombs?”

{{ Located the last of the three and eliminated it. }}

“Cannonball, what about the rescue operations?”

{{ Goin’ smoothly so far an’ Warbird just arrived on the scene, but we could use some extra help down here. }}

“Understood Sam, we’ll join you shortly,” says Captain America. “Good work, soldier.”

Fury begins peeling off Captain America’s costume, revealing his SHIELD skinsuit beneath it.

“Nice one, Cap,” he says. “Settin’ a trap to lure Bullseye in. It was a smart move. Surprised I didn’t think of it.”

“We all have our off-days, Nick,” says Captain America. “I couldn’t have done it without you, though.”

“Yeah well next time you need someone to impersonate you, call in the USAgent.”

Location Undisclosed

“Sir, we just received word from Luminstan.”

“And…?” asks the middle aged man seated behind a desk.

“Bullseye failed, sir,” replies the aide.

“Pity,” says the man behind the desk. “The civil war which would have come after Kitchstein’s death would have served as a suitable distraction.”

“What now, sir?” asks the aide.

“We have other options, my friend,” replies the man. “Tell me, have you ever heard of the Cube?”

NEXT ISSUE: Empire